


In-Between: Collection of Random Drabbles

by Sehrezad



Series: In-Between [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Baby Tauriel, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Mirkwood, Tauriel and Legolas growing up as siblings, Thranduil adores his wife
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2018-07-10 12:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6986086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sehrezad/pseuds/Sehrezad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a companion piece to my other story, "In-Between". I will collect little snippets here that are missing from that body of work, or those that are a part of that universe but take place earlier. As of now, these stories are mostly about Tauriel's life in Mirkwood because I really like playing with the idea of Tauriel, Legolas and Thranduil being a family… and I just love Thranduil. But really, everything plays...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tauriel and Legolas

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was inspired by the song "Lullaby for a Stormy Night" by Vienna Teng.

Tauriel stood in the clearing, letting the pouring rain soak her and wash away her tears.

She remembered those nights when she and Legolas used to climb into their parents' bed when the pouring rain disturbed their peaceful dreams. She could still recall the patient love with which their parents surrounded them, chasing the demons away.

On one such night, when the night air still held the warmth of the day, the King and the Queen gathered the terrified children into their arms and ventured into the dark clearing Tauriel was now standing in. There was an indulgent smile on their faces as they began to sing a soothing lullaby about rain and a beautiful world it created in the following morning. They fell asleep in the warm summer downpour and woke up the following morning in a cocoon of blankets with a smile on their faces.

The next night when the rain returned, they didn't run to the royal chambers for protection from the frightening weather but to drag their parents out to the clearing to enjoy it.

The memory of those happy nights warmed her soul now as her heart was slowly breaking. They were never to come back again. Her Naneth was gone and her Adar was behaving like a stranger.

In a voice filled with sorrow, she slowly began to sing the words of the lullaby, trying to hold onto her memories, and her voice broke when another joined hers.

She felt Legolas' arms enveloping her from behind and she held them in a desperate grasp on her chest as they shared in their grief.

***

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	2. Thranduil and his Queen

 

"You are sure about this, meleth nín?" Thranduil asked his wife with an incredulous look as he stepped into the training hall. The sword in her hand looked rather ridiculous. She was a healer, not a warrior.

"Yes," she stood straighter, adjusting her hold on the sword awkwardly. She must have realized that, too, because she gave him an indignant look. "I am the Queen. I will not sit around looking pretty. I want to be able to protect myself and our people."

"You are a healer," he pointed out patiently. "You are saving them either way."

"And who will save me?" Thranduil was just about to tell her that he would die before he'd let anything happen to her but her raised eyebrows stopped him. In spite of her small stature, his Queen could look quite intimidating. She would have none of that. "These are dark times, meleth nín," she told him with a serious expression.

"Very well," he sighed. After all the King could never say no to his beloved wife. Even more so when said wife was regarding him with those big blue eyes of hers, looking adorably foolish with his long sword in her delicate hand. "But we have to fetch you another sword. You just look preposterous with mine."

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	3. Baby Tauriel is found

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything connecting to the movies or the books._

* * *

From the corner of his eye, Thranduil saw his wife fighting the Orcs, cutting down one after the other. A proud smile was playing on his lips as he freed the head of an Orc from its shoulders.

His Queen might not have been a warrior but she was a fighter for sure. As a healer, she had sworn to protect life but she knew no mercy when it came to the Orcs. Her twin daggers were slicing the filthy flesh with precise movements.

She was beautiful, he marvelled at her grace while the number of Orcs diminished around them.

When no more attack came, he looked to his wife and they shared a smile. Cleaning and sheathing their weapons, they looked around and their triumphant joy disappeared. They might have got rid of a good number of Orcs that day but they were too late. The little settlement whose aid they had come to, had been annihilated with all the life within.

It was a massacre, Thranduil realized with dismay. The Elves living there were not warriors but simple folks, farmers, craftsmen, merchants.

The destruction was devastating.

In somber silence, they took care of the dead, paid their final respect, then the company of the King continued on its journey.

Hardly had they set out when something caught Thranduil's ears, though, and he raised a hand to stop and listen. At first it was hard to determine what caught his attention but when it came again, the Queen swiftly dismounted her ride and ran into the bushes. Thranduil followed, telling his men to stay behind and when he caught up with his Queen, he stopped stunned. She was holding a baby, a tiny little thing in dirty rags. He quickly gathered himself and walked around in search for anybody who could have left the infant there. He didn't have to search for long as his eyes fell on a limp form of a she-elf who'd been hardly out of her birth bed. She'd given her life to save her child.

"The mother is dead," he announced in a low voice as he walked back to his wife and looked down at the babe.

"Her whole family is dead," she said, cradling the babe protectively. She was the only survivor of a senseless and cruel bloodshed.

For a long time the royal couple regarded the baby, then the Queen looked up at her husband with guarded hope shining through the pain in her eyes. "Maybe there is a blessing in the tragedy. Maybe she is the gift of the forest."

Thranduil pondered her words, caressing the babe's cheek with a finger. Maybe she was right. Maybe that was the way of the Valar to give them what had been denied.

"The daughter of the forest."

"Tauriel," the Queen breathed looking back down at the little girl and at that moment Thranduil knew that she was their little girl.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything connecting to the movies or the books.
> 
> I'm working on the next chapter of In-Between but it seems I'm working on too many things at a time and Thranduil just demanded my attention, too, so I had to come up with a backstory for him. Not that I mind. Hopefully, something will come out of it. Until then, here is another tidbit, again from Mirkwood.

 

She wasn't particularly worried when she couldn't find the children in their beds. It wasn't the first time, after all, that she'd found empty beds and rumpled sheets on the way to her bedchambers.

By now she knew where to go if she wished to find her wayward Elflings: she simply had to find their father.

That should be interesting, she thought. Thranduil was on a meeting with high ranking dignitaries from all over the realm, stretching well into the night.

When she reached the council hall, she stopped and suppressed an affectionate chuckle.

She had seen a lot of things ever since the nightly search for the children became a frequent occurrence.

She had seen father and children slumbering up on a tree branch.

She had seen them giggling in their marital bed as Thranduil entertained them with exciting stories.

She had seen their guilty faces – all three of them – when she caught them in the kitchen area munching on dried fruits.

She had seen them out like a log on a bench in the training area, wrapped up in Thranduil's heavy cloak, as her husband practiced his sword skills.

She had once had to go to the stables to collect two sleeping Elflings who smelled like wet hay. Apparently, helping their father groom his large elk was best done after bath-time… and, really, bedtime.

But, of course, Thranduil would not begrudge them anything. That was why he indulged them in their new fancy of sneaking out after bedtime to find him.

That was how she could come upon the sight that had greeted her upon her arrival in the council hall.

She had indeed seen a lot of things but she'd never seen a room full of dignitaries talking in hushed voices while two little Elflings were peacefully sleeping in the King's arms.

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	5. Oropher and Thranduil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything connecting to the movies or the books.
> 
> Summary: This is a companion piece to my other story, "In-Between". I will collect little snippets here that are missing from that body of work, or those that are a part of it but take place earlier. As of now, these stories mostly be about Tauriel's life in Mirkwood because I really like playing with that idea… and I just love Thranduil. But really, everything plays here.

"You are cavorting with an Elf whose people killed your brothers," Oropher spat angrily.

"That is making it simpler than it really is, Father." Thranduil sighed with a sigh that bordered on disrespectful. Besides the fact that Finarfin's people were not part of Fëanor's kinslaying, his father always seemed to disregard that simple matter that Mallasseth was born in Valinor. Even King Thingol was more open-minded than his father.

"You want simpler, Son?" And here it comes, he thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He loved his father dearly, and somewhere he could even understand him, but he could be so single-minded sometimes. "They are all kinslayers, that woman included."

"That woman saved my life when no one else on Arda could have," Thranduil bit back, quickly losing patience with his father. "She saved more of our people than we could count. She is not her people."

"She is of Finwë's kin," he stated with finality. "She will bring you nothing but suffering. Mark my word, Thranduil. She will be the fall of you."

"Then I will fall gladly," he retorted gravely.

"You speak as a fool blinded by love," Oropher scoffed.

"She is my One, Father. I could care less of her origin. She could be Fëanor's daughter for all I care… or a Dwarf of Nogrod. I could not deny her. She is a part of me and nothing will change that."

"I love you, my son. I just want to spare you the heartache that will sure to come if you do not forsake your folly."

"Every heartache is worth the joy of the days I get to spend with her. Cannot you see it? She is the sole reason I am still of this world. Do not let your prejudice shadow your mind. She is the best of all of us."

"And you are the most delusional," Oropher added, pity lacing his voice. "Very well. But no spawn of Finwë will be a daughter of mine. I will not recognize her as your wife as long as I live."

"I can only hope then that with time, you will see the wrong of your way. Because I will not forsake her."

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	6. Thranduil and Tauriel

"Nana would have never stood for this," Tauriel cried, realizing a second too late that she might have just gone too far. But she wouldn't back off, not when her life was at the line. "She fought."

"And she is not here now, is she?"

"I want to fight with you. I want to defend our people."

"Very well then," Thranduil nodded in agreement as his features turned into a blank mask. "But no daughter of mine will become a soldier. Decide according to that."

"You would make me choose between my family and the life I wish to live?"

"You heard my wish."

"That was no wish. I love you, Ada…" She took a shaky breath. "And that is why I will do my best to protect you and this forest."

She turned before her father could see anything so that he wouldn't see the tears that were threatening to fall.

She missed the tortured look on the King's face, too.

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